Help Me With My New Rating System

I’m not only a roller coaster geek, but also a big fan of ratings and reviews of any kind. And, I’m always looking for ways to improve my rating system. One thing that came to mind was adding additional subcategories to my ratings.

For example, I gave Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia a 9 out of 10 which is an ‘Excellent’ on my rating scale. I also gave Intimidator 305 a 9 out of 10. If I could add two or three more subfactors that described my experience on those two pretty different rides what should they be? Also, could I come up with a few factors that could be applied to non-roller coasters like dark rides, drop rides, etc? Here’s what I came up with so far:

Fun – How much did you enjoy it?Intensity(Roughness) – How rough (taxing on your body) was it?Re-Ride Worthiness – How much do you want to ride it again? Or how likely are you to ride it again?
I’m trying to hit on three very basic questions that the average park-goer would ask a friend who’s ridden a ride that they haven’t. (Of course enthusiasts should find the factors useful too.) Take the I305/Goliath example. I’d give that ride a 5 on the intensity scale, and a lower 2 or 3 for whether I’d ride it again. I’d give it a 4 out of 5 for fun, mainly for the unique twisties, but for me, one rides probably enough especially if there’s a long line. On the other hand, Goliath would get: 4/5 for Fun, 3/5 for Intensity, and a 5/5 for re-ridability (re-ride worthiness – not sure about the name yet).

Additional ratings might distinguish between really fun thrill rides (like Kingda Ka) that you might not ride again because they’re so short or because they’re too intense for your tastes. Or it could reveal rides that are less intense, but so fun that their definitely worth a re-ride. And so on.

Oh. And try to forget the Intensity Scale that I developed. I may keep it, or scrap it as it might confuse people. I think these three factors could say a lot about any ride. And, my hope is to allow readers to contribute to these ratings and also do some interesting things when I start collecting enough data.

What’s Your Take?
I’d love to get everyone’s feedback as I’m not sure if these factors will be as clear and as meaningful to you as they are to me. What factors would you include? Would you re-name these or switch certain ones out? Leave a comment below.

I’m also working on a way to allow for everyone to get in on the ratings. I’ll still have my rating, but you, the reader may have a turn as well. More on this later.